Athletic training aid

ABSTRACT

A training aid comprises a plurality of elongate bodies. Each of the elongate bodies comprises a first end and a second end. A holder is coupled to the first end, and includes a clip extending along each of the elongate bodies and forming an accommodating space. The accommodating space is oriented to accommodate an object to be inserted along each of the elongate bodies in a direction pointing the first end to the second end. Each of the elongate bodies is bendable to a deformed state and is fixable in the deformed state.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present disclosure claims priority to U.S. Application No. 63/106,220, filed Oct. 27, 2020, the entire contents and disclosure of which are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to an athletic training aid for improving the basic actions of hitting, throwing, and catching an object by attaching to the bill of a headgear a visual aid or an athletic training aid capable of being reversibly formed to move within or outside the user's field of vision.

In athletic activities such as hitting, throwing, and catching an object, the location of the upper body, and by association the head, during these actions, is fundamentally important to success. The problem is that the human eye movement is designed not to provide this feedback through the naturally gyroscopic movement of the human eye. By placing, within the field of vision, a visual aid or an athletic training aid that is attached to, or immobilized with respect to, the upper body and by association the head, between the user's eyes within the field of vision and the object to be hit, thrown, or caught, a user is able to receive real-time visual feedback for improvement purposes. In some cases, another person can hold an object in the field of vision of the user during these actions, but this is not ideal as he or she may interfere with the user's movement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one example embodiment, a training aid comprises a plurality of elongate bodies. Each of the elongate bodies comprises a first end and a second end. A holder is coupled to the first end. The holder includes a clip extending along each of the elongate bodies and forming an accommodating space. The accommodating space is oriented to accommodate an object to be inserted along each of the elongate bodies in a direction pointing the first end to the second end. Each of the elongate bodies is bendable to a deformed state and is fixable in the deformed state.

In another example, a training aid comprises a plurality of elongate bodies. Each of the elongate bodies comprises a first end and a second end. A holder is coupled to the first end, and includes a clip extending along each of the elongate bodies and forming an accommodating space. The accommodating space is oriented to accommodate an object to be inserted along each of the elongate bodies in a direction pointing the first end to the second end. Each of the elongate bodies is bendable to a deformed state and is fixable in the deformed state.

In yet another example, a method of training comprises providing a training aid comprising a pair of elongate bodies. Each of the elongate bodies comprises a first end and a second end. A holder is coupled to the first end and includes a clip extending along the elongate body and forming an accommodating space. The accommodating space is oriented to accommodate an object to be inserted along the elongate body in a direction pointing the first end to the second end. The elongate body is bendable to a deformed state and fixable in the deformed state. The method further comprises attaching the training aid to a headgear by inserting a part of the headgear into the accommodating space, and deforming the pair of elongate bodies to enclose a field of vision.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGS. 1A-1C provide a perspective and exploded view of an embodiment of a training aid, a front elevation view thereof and a side elevation view thereof;

FIG. 2 provides a side view of the training aid without an outer structure;

FIG. 3 provides a front view of an example headgear on which a pair of the training aids are mounted;

FIG. 4 provides a side view of the headgear on which a pair of the training aids are coupled in a deformed state;

FIG. 5 provides a front view of the headgear where training aids are coupled in an unbent state (broken lines) and in a deformed state (solid lines); and

FIG. 6 illustrates an example object within the view of a user of the training aids where the training aids form a perimeter around a target object.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments described herein provide for a vision-based athletic training aid 10 that is to be secured to the bill of a headgear (e.g., a hat or visor) and is thereafter formed so as to be reversible to be within or outside the field of vision of the user.

An example embodiment of the athletic training aid 10 is provided in FIGS. 1A-1C and may include an elongate body 12, a holder 14, and a retaining cap 16.

The elongate body 12 may include a first end 12 a in which the retaining cap 16 is mounted and a second, opposite end 12 b. The elongate body 12 may be made of a material or a combination of materials that can be manipulated to non-permanently retain its shape along its entirety as shown in FIGS. 3-5. The elongate body 12 may formed of gooseneck tubing 1 so as to be bendable to a deformed state and fixable in the deformed state and such that the elongate body 12 may take on and retain a variety of desired shapes as shown in FIGS. 4-5. Instead of the gooseneck tubing 1, it may be possible to use other materials or configurations for the elongate body 12 that offer bendability and fixability.

Moreover, the elongate body 12 may be coated with material that reduces reflection or does not cause reflection since reflection may disrupt the vision of the user when the training aid 10 is placed near the eyes of a user. Thus, the elongate body 12 may be coated with material or materials with an opacity scale of between 0 and 70 gloss units (GU) which is comparable to between medium gloss and no gloss. In particular, the coating of the elongate body 12 may be formed by covering an inner structure with an outer structure made of polymer (e.g., solid silicone), surface-treated metal, composite material, fabric, or paint, for example. The outer structure may be in the form of a tube, for example.

The elongate body 12 may have a circular cross-section and may have a diameter ranging between 0.125 inches to 0.5 inches. Moreover, the entire length of the training aid 10 may be from 3 to 6 inches or, in one example, 5.349 inches. In an alternative embodiment, the entire length of the training aid 10 can be 12 inches.

The holder 14 may include a clip 18 and a ring section 20. The clip 18 may include a U-shaped section 22 (FIG. 1C) that may be formed by a stationary member 24 and a biasing member 26. Specifically, the U- shaped section 22 may be positioned to extend along the elongate body 12 such that the stationary member 24 extends along the elongate body 12 while the biasing member 26 is suspended with respect to stationary member 24 as shown in FIG. 1C. Under this configuration, the U-shaped section 22 may include, at an open end, a gap 28 formed by proximal portions of the stationary member 24 and the biasing member 26 and, at a closed end, an accommodating space 30 formed by distal portions of the stationary member 24 and the biasing member 26. The accommodating space 30 may be oriented such that an object may be inserted into the gap 28 of the U-shaped section 22 to be accommodated therein (FIG. 3). Specifically, the object may be inserted in a direction that is from the first end 12 a to the second end 12 b. The object may be a bill of a headgear 32 such as a hat, a visor or the like, as shown in FIGS. 3-5. Once the object is inserted, the biasing member 26 may be biased to push the object against the stationary member 24 to thereby secure the object in the accommodating space 30.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the retaining cap 16 may be inserted through the ring section 20 of the holder 14 and into the first end 12 a of the elongate body 12 to secure the ring section 20 to the elongate body 12 and couple the holder 14 to the first end 12 a of the elongate body 12.

The training aid 10, once attached to the headgear 32, may then be manipulated by the user to be within or outside of the user's field of vision thereby creating one or more visual points of reference, relative to a target object 34 (e.g., a ball) that the user is to engage, by hitting, throwing, catching or the like. Such use of the training aids 10 allows for visual feedback on the location of the upper body, and by association the head, during the athletic motion of the user, as shown in FIG. 6.

In practice, one or more training aids 10 may be attached anywhere along the perimeter of the bill of the headgear 32. In FIGS. 3-6, for example, two training aids 10 are used. If only one training aid 10 is used on a headgear 32, the training aids 10 may be attached to the center or side of the bill depending on how the training aid 10 affects the user's visual feedback and, consequently, movement of the user. Similarly, if multiple training aids 10 are used on the headgear 32, the training aids 10 may be attached at various locations along the bill depending on their effect on the user's visual feedback and the movement. It should be noted that one or more training aids 10 need not affect both eyes of the user and may only affect one eye depending on how the one or more training aids 10 are used.

In another embodiment, the training aid 10 may be formed integrally in one piece. In alternative embodiments, the holder 14 and the retaining cap 16 are formed separately and secured together, for example by means of hardware, adhesive, or the like.

In yet another embodiment, the elongate body 12 may taper in diameter and may, for example, include a stepped region.

Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A training aid comprising: an elongate body including a first end and a second end; and a holder coupled to the first end, the holder including a clip extending along the elongate body and forming an accommodating space, the accommodating space oriented to accommodate an object to be inserted along the elongate body in a direction pointing from the first end to the second end, wherein the elongate body is bendable to a deformed state and is fixable in the deformed state.
 2. The training aid of claim 1, wherein the clip includes a U-shaped section positioned to extend along the elongate body and wherein an object is inserted into the accommodating space through a gap of the U-shaped section.
 3. The training aid of claim 2, wherein the U-shaped section includes a stationary member extending along the elongate body and a biasing member that pushes an object in the accommodating space against the stationary member.
 4. The training aid of claim 1, wherein the elongate body is made of gooseneck tubing.
 5. The training aid of claim 1, wherein the holder includes a ring section configured to couple the holder to the first end of the elongate body.
 6. The training aid of claim 1, wherein an outer surface of the elongate body is covered with material that reduces reflection.
 7. The training aid of claim 6, wherein an opacity of the material is between 0 and 70 gloss units (GU).
 8. A training aid comprising: a plurality of elongate bodies, each of the elongate bodies comprising: a first end and a second end; and a holder coupled to the first end, the holder including a clip extending along each of the elongate bodies and forming an accommodating space, the accommodating space oriented to accommodate an object to be inserted along each of the elongate bodies in a direction pointing the first end to the second end, wherein each of the elongate bodies is bendable to a deformed state and is fixable in the deformed state.
 9. The training aid of claim 8, wherein the clip includes a U-shaped section positioned to extend along each of the elongate bodies and wherein an object is inserted into the accommodating space through a gap of the U-shaped section.
 10. The training aid of claim 9, wherein the U-shaped section includes a stationary member extending along each of the elongate bodies and a biasing member that pushes an object in the accommodating space against the stationary member.
 11. The training aid of claim 8, wherein the plurality of elongate bodies is made of gooseneck.
 12. The training aid of claim 8, wherein the holder includes a ring section to couple the holder to the first end of each of the elongate bodies.
 13. The training aid of claim 8, wherein an outer surface of the elongate body is covered with material that reduces reflection.
 14. The training aid of claim 13, wherein an opacity of the material is between 0 and 70 gloss units (GU).
 15. A method of training, the method comprising: providing a training aid comprising a pair of elongate bodies, each of the elongate bodies comprising a first end and a second end, and a holder coupled to the first end, the holder including a clip extending along the elongate body and forming an accommodating space, the accommodating space oriented to accommodate an object to be inserted along the elongate body in a direction pointing the first end to the second end, the elongate body being bendable to a deformed state and fixable in the deformed state; attaching the training aid to a headgear by inserting a part of the headgear into the accommodating space; and deforming the pair of elongate bodies to enclose a field of vision.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the clip includes a U-shaped section positioned to extend along the pair of elongate bodies and wherein an object is inserted into the accommodating space through a gap of the U-shaped section.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the U-shaped section includes a stationary member extending along the pair of elongate bodies and a biasing member that pushes an object in the accommodating space against the stationary member.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein the pair of elongate bodies is made of gooseneck.
 19. The method of claim 15, wherein the holder includes a ring section to couple the holder to the first end of the pair of elongate bodies.
 20. The method of claim 15, wherein an outer surface of the elongate body is covered with material that reduces reflection. 